The von Economo neurons in the frontoinsular and anterior cingulate cortex
Top Cited Papers
- 28 April 2011
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wiley in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
- Vol. 1225 (1), 59-71
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06011.x
Abstract
The von Economo neurons (VENs) are large bipolar neurons located in the frontoinsular cortex (FI) and limbic anterior (LA) area in great apes and humans but not in other primates. Our stereological counts of VENs in FI and LA show them to be more numerous in humans than in apes. In humans, small numbers of VENs appear the 36th week postconception, with numbers increasing during the first 8 months after birth. There are significantly more VENs in the right hemisphere in postnatal brains; this may be related to asymmetries in the autonomic nervous system. VENs are also present in elephants and whales and may be a specialization related to very large brain size. The large size and simple dendritic structure of these projection neurons suggest that they rapidly send basic information from FI and LA to other parts of the brain, while slower neighboring pyramids send more detailed information. Selective destruction of VENs in early stages of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) implies that they are involved in empathy, social awareness, and self‐control, consistent with evidence from functional imaging.Keywords
This publication has 72 references indexed in Scilit:
- Biochemical specificity of von economo neurons in hominoidsAmerican Journal of Human Biology, 2010
- Role of the anterior insula in task-level control and focal attentionBrain Structure and Function, 2010
- Development of Cortical Asymmetry in Typically Developing Children and Its Disruption in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity DisorderArchives of General Psychiatry, 2009
- How do you feel — now? The anterior insula and human awarenessNature Reviews Neuroscience, 2009
- Functional Brain Correlates of Social and Nonsocial Processes in Autism Spectrum Disorders: An Activation Likelihood Estimation Meta-AnalysisBiological Psychiatry, 2009
- Selective functional, regional, and neuronal vulnerability in frontotemporal dementiaCurrent Opinion in Neurology, 2008
- A critical role for the right fronto-insular cortex in switching between central-executive and default-mode networksProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Evolutionary Origins for Social Vocalization in a Vertebrate Hindbrain–Spinal CompartmentScience, 2008
- Distinct brain networks for adaptive and stable task control in humansProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2007
- Histological asymmetries of primary motor cortex predict handedness in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)Journal of Comparative Neurology, 2007